Thursday, March 22, 2007

'The Audit' Gets it Right on Chiquita

In the past I've been critical of CJR Daily's 'Audit' section for some strangely reasoned articles, made all the more unpalatable by the sometimes bizarre statements of its then-editor Mark Mitchell.

Mitchell has gone, and the Audit seems to have finally caught up with reality, judging by a well-aimed barb at CNNMoney today. Seems a commentator called a "raw deal" the prosecution of Chiquita for paying off a terrorist organization in Colombia.

Another critic of the Audit, Brad DeLong, once observed that the Audit has limited credibility and is "lacking quality control." The former is still true, but today's item is a step in the right direction.

The Audit would also give its credibility a boost if it cut out links to Judd Bagley's BusinessJive and "FaulkingTruth" websites, both of which sling mud at journalists while pushing the naked-shorting conspiracy theories that fascinated Mitchell.

It was always more than a little strange that a journalism review would link to sites that personally attack journalists on behalf of Bagley's boss Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com. But then again, the Audit was a strange website. Maybe that's changing.

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About Me

I'm a journalist and author. My latest book is AYN RAND NATION: The Hidden Struggle for America's Soul (St. Martin's Press: Feb. 28, 2012). My previous books were Wall Street Versus America (Portfolio: 2006) and Born to Steal (Warner Books: 2003). I was an investigative reporter and Wall Street writer for BusinessWeek, a contributing editor at Condé Nast Portfolio, and have written for the Daily Beast, Parade magazine, Salon, The Street.com, Fortune.com, Barron's and many other publications. I was an adjunct professor at Columbia University's School of Journalism. Follow me on Twitter @gary_weiss